Learning Chinese through Idioms and Stories: 中英成語歷史典故

[bàn tú ér fèi] 半 : half 途 : way, or path 而 : and, but, or thus 廢 : stop, give up, or destroy Def: 比喻做事有始無終，不能堅持到底。 Describing one to quit or give up halfway, and unable to persist to the end.

指鹿為馬 (to blatantly lie in the face of truth) [zhǐ lù wéi mǎ] 指 : to point to, or to refer to 鹿 : deer 為 : to be, as 馬 : horse Def: 將鹿指稱是馬，以展現自己的威權。比喻人刻意顛倒是非。 Claiming that a deer is a horse, in order to display one’s own power by coercing obedience of others or to blatantly lie in the face of truth. Describing one to intentionally manipulate or to deliberately misrepresent the truth.

[ dōng shī xiào pín ] 東施: 人名 ；a women that lives on the east side of the village 效 : 仿效 ；copying actions of others 顰 : 皺眉 ；furrowing one’s brows Def: 比喻盲目胡亂地模仿他人，結果卻適得其反 Describing one to imitate the actions of others without understanding the reason or nature of just to get the opposite effect or to humiliate oneself

[ bǎi bù chuān yáng ] ; [ qián gōng jìn qì ] 百 hundred; 步 paces; 穿 penetrate; 楊 willow 前 previous; 功 achievement; 盡 completely; 棄 abandon Annals of the Warring States, Su Li advises the Duke of Zhou. Def: 形容射箭，射擊技藝高超 Describes one to have superb archery or shooting skills. Def: 指以前辛苦獲得的成果，全部廢棄。 To have results and achievements obtained previously discarded for nothing, wasted.

[ cái shū xué qiǎn ] Most commonly used as a self-deprecating remark, describing one to have little talent, uneducated, or possess little or limited knowledge. The tone projected is often one of trying to decline politely or to make concessions for a likely offensive opinion coming up in the conversation. In effect, it is quite similar to saying “Forgive my ignorance…” when used in conversation. 才：才能、能力 ; aptitude, capability 疏：不足、缺少 ; insufficient, lacking 學：學識、知識 ; knowledge, learning 淺：淺薄、膚淺 ; superficial, shallow The original classical Chinese text can be found in the Book of Han 085 chapter biography of Gu Jung